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What: “Lost Treasures of NFL Films: Volume VIII--Lost Sounds of the ‘70s”

Where: ESPN Classic, tonight, 7

NFL Films started in the early 1960s using great footage to give viewers an inside look at professional football, but what put the film company over the top was the use of microphones on players and coaches. It became a common practice by the early ‘70s.

This is the eighth installment of a series produced entirely from 400 hours of footage found in the NFL Films archives, and this edition features footage from the early ‘70s. The result is another extremely entertaining hour of viewing and listening.

NFL Films President Steve Sabol, who narrates the show, says he has pictures of two coaches in his office. One is Vince Lombardi. The other is former Chicago Bear coach Abe Gibron. After seeing the segment on Gibron, it is easy to see why.

Gibron wore a microphone for a game in 1973. His words are hilarious, and so are his efforts to keep his pants up. At one point, he unzips them, telling an assistant to stand in front of him. Another time he blows his nose, without using a handkerchief. He shows he is a math whiz when he tells an assistant, “Four sevens is 28.” He keeps going over to a young Sabol on the sidelines during game, asking if he can take the microphone off.

Sabol tells viewers, “That sideline was the most chaotic I’ve ever seen. Everyone talked at once.”

Another segment features guards Gene Upshaw of the Oakland Raiders and John Niland of Dallas Cowboys wearing microphones. On running plays, Niland walks to the line of scrimmage repeating the play to himself as a means of getting fired up.

An assistant coach tells Upshaw and his linemates they are not walking to the line of scrimmage fast enough, which goes over big.

There’s a segment on Jimmy Carr, a 30-year assistant coach who once danced for the NFL Films cameras to “Too Legit to Quit.” Sabol said NFL Films often had trouble getting coaches and players to wear the microphones, so they once put one on the Chicago Bears’ mascot. That made for another good segment.

Marv Levy, who is now good for sounds bites as a commentator for Fox Sports Net, was back then too, as coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. Sid Gillman, Paul Brown, Joe Kapp, Eagle linebacker Bill Bergey and Lyle Alzado are among the others featured.